Viscom students get a glimpse of celluloid world

(File Photo)

Do Visual Communication graduates have to go to Kodambakkam to excel in cinema industry? No. Is there scope for talented youngsters from economically backward families to get an opportunity for a good break in the feature film industry? Yes.

What is the approach to get into cinematography, editing, and other areas of film-making? Keep experimenting on micro-scale. Where does an aspirant look for all the paraphernalia and resources for film-making? Take off as a team with what is available banking on specific skills.

These were some of the takeaways for an attentive audience of nearly 200 Visual Communication students at EVR Periyar College on Monday after a marathon interaction with three emerging professionals in the film industry: Rathna Kumar, director of Meyatha Maan ; Vijay Kartik Kannan, cinematographer of Darling 2 and Iraivaakaalam ; and Arun Bose, film maker/creative director, Cockroach in Cockail Production.

By way of sharing their experiences during the Visual Communication Department’s Fifth Film Festival on the theme, First Step, the film industry professionals, in fact, prepared the Viscom students for a lengthy struggle ahead of them. They were sounded of the imminent situation that they would have to face to balance assiduous pursuit of their vocation with attending to family needs on the economic front, may be, for a long stretch.

“It is not that there are no opportunities. Initially, it will be prudent not to look at the scale of movie production. Only by continuous execution of minor works here and there in related areas can one even think of getting a break at some point of time,” he explained.

With their down-to-earth attitude, Mr. Rathnakumar and Mr. Vijay Karthik Kannan struck a chord with the student audience all through their presentation on ‘Understanding films and the makers behind them’ after the formal inauguration session presided by the Principal, S. Rajendran.

The session on ‘Collaborative process-led community film-making’ by Mr. Arun Bose exposed students to the differences in the making of documentaries, feature films and advertisement commercials. Making of documentaries warranted more research, he told the students, who were listening in rapt attention.

The students were impressed when they learnt that his short film, My Paper Boat , which won the best short film award at the UNO Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in Denmark in 2010, was made on a budget of just Rs. 500. Along with My Paper Boat , a documentary, Pedana Kalamkari , which won the best documentary film award of Craft Council of India, was also screened.

The students could gain rich insights into the process of film-making as they could interact on a similar wavelength with the professionals who had made it big in the industry with the subject background, M. Blessy, Head, Department of Visual Communication, said.

Santhya, Secretary of Media Scape Association, said the interaction was an eye-opener for students from remote rural pockets like her who felt constrained by economic conditions.

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